#I do just hate the whole emperor reveal so much tho. He was a more interesting character before that

[misspickman]

Actually so evil of bg3 to have the emperor be referred to with it/its pronouns only to do the big reveal and make it a him again

[allys-diary]

stories i om-nom-nom'd :: april 2024 (week 1)

Considering that this is my first week of full on unemployment since 2016, this is also probably the first time I've purely had time just to myself. So you bet ur souls I nom'd a whole lot of media this week.

As usual, expect spoilers, you've been warned. Everything below the cut:

movies

Mulan (1998)

This was a rewatch and I honestly just had it on because I wanted something in the background while I was cleaning, but also I was having such a blast singing and dancing along to the soundtrack. And also I just wanna take this moment to say that Yao, Ling, and Chien Po were the realest ones in this movie because they were so unfazed by the reveal that their new friend Ping was actually a woman and all they cared about was trying to stop Shang because they thought he was gonna execute her. And then when she popped up at the palace going "Hey guys! I have an idea" they just dropped everything and didn't even hesitate to put on a dress and makeup.

Like I need friends like that, their loyalty is unmatched 👏👏👏

Also the Emperor becoming Mulan's wingman at the end was something I forgot and I cackled so loud watching that scene over 😂

Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

I'll be so real and tell y'all that I put off watching this movie for the longest time because I've seen so much hype around it, and when I see smth like that I have one of two possible responses. I either immediately jump on it the second it releases…or I procrastinate. But watching this was honestly so much fun and even though I didn't watch the first movie, I could still feel Winnie's devastation when she watched her sisters fall victim into a yassified Thanos snap. Although honestly I do feel like this was just natural consequence doing its thing, like Book really tried to warn her so many times, so really this is just "Fuck around and find out (Winnifred's Version)".

I will say though, that something I felt was lacking was the building of the characters of the new witches. It feels like the movie was made with the hopes that people would go in this with so much nostalgia for the first movie and that would be enough to carry the entire project without having to do much on actually telling us who these new witches are, and why we should root for them. The dynamic between the three girls felt very much like it was telling rather than showing that Becca would be the leader but she's going to put in the work to make them all have equal footing, while in contrast, the Sanderson sisters had a dynamic that drew you in and showed you from even the first scene that Sarah and Mary were treated by Winnie as subordinates rather than sisters.

There was just enough hints at the end that there's a movement for a third Hocus Pocus movie to be greenlit because there's still one more black flame candle, and that was more than enough for me to blurt out the words "Gilbert, you lil bitch".

On a lighter note tho…the flying roombas and the performance number were a few of the highlights of the movie that kinda make me wanna watch it again…Ohh and Hannah Waddingham as Witch Mother 100% had me going "this better not awaken anything in me"

nvm…too late

tv shows

Law and Order: Special Victims Unit

I can't watch the shows in order because my streaming services really said "fuck your binging rights", so I have 0 context on overarching series arcs, but I watch what I can.

Season 21, Episode 1: They created a whole ass MeToo episode and it was so well-written I actually had to take a second to remind myself that this was acting and to hold off on hating Ian McShane because he portrayed his whole "sleazy media mogul with a whole ass casting couch" persona eerily well. One of the things I'm steadily coming to appreciate with the series is that they're not shying away from touching on current issues, and I personally cannot wait for the incoming seasons and they start taking jabs at Sickelodeon--I mean Nickelodeon.

Also Hadid deserves jail time she needs to be taken down ALL the pegs. If Hadid has 0 haters, I am dead.

Season 21, Episode 2: Speaking of not shying away from sensitive issues, this was a doozy and a half because it was really subliminally heavy on the victim blaming. Reagan's "friends" for one are some insane pieces of work just damn near scoffing when they were told "your friend might have been assaulted" and going "yeah probably not she has a whole bunch of crazy antics". And that utterly disheartening moment when the team realizes that if this actually does go to trial, that she might not win because the defense could spin a story about "her wanting it" because of her history and her sexcapades with a bunch of other guys.

In the name of fully supporting women's wrongs, I fully support Reagan going full "I Spit on Your Grave" on these bastards 😤 That and I'd fully be on board with a movie where Ariel Winter goes the vigilante & revenge route.

Sidenote: This is why I hate that I can't stream all the seasons because I have no idea what happened to Olivia in the previous season that was called back to in the final scene with Reagan where she said she knows that Reagan will survive because she survived.

Season 10, Episode 22: Okay so I knew from the jump when Stuckey was introduced that either he wouldn't be around for long because he was gonna screw something up which would result in him getting fired (or at the very least transferred to another department far away from interacting with people), or he'd get an improvement arc where he suddenly became an invaluable asset to the team. What I didn't think was gonna happen was that he was going to go on a murder spree in an attempt to manipulate events so he could overcorrect on a mistake that he made from being way too lax and honestly kind of arrogant.

I just know that Benson went like this the second they had him in custody:

games

Undercover: Blood Bonds

Chapter 3: We get introduced to Vera's former coworker (and possibly ex) Gabe, revealing that before she became a journalist, she was a detective, and he's not too happy about her career shift. In the chapter outro, we get a flashback of Lilly looking like she's going through it and has been keeping a diary to write her feelings down. This flashback might be of the night that Lilly disappeared, maybe the last time Vera saw her sister alive.

Chapter 4: Jericho's a mysterious new figure that makes his entrance by walking into Club (no really, the club's name is "Club") without being carded by Hank, the bouncer. Also he has red eyes. Vera managed to swipe Lilly's journal from the crime scene and she finds out that the last time her sister wrote in there was the night that Vera left the city to go back home.

Chapter 5: Vera's in a competition with Crystal over who gets to keep the job at Club because only one of them can stay after the week's over, and knowing she doesn't have a shot, Crystal sabotages Vera by "accidentally" dropping her lipstick on the floor so that Vera slips and falls and breaks a tray full of glasses. Hank mentions that the previous barmaid Daisy would've been useful to know what happened to Lilly, and the very end shows a flashback that Jericho met Lilly the last time she went to Club and bought her a drink.

Chapter 6: Jericho buys a drink for the new DJ, Bluejay, but doesn't score with her because she has a gig and she's determined to stick to schedule (which is finish her shift at 4am). Hank tells Vera that Daisy was head over heels for Jericho when she used to work at Club, and a flashback reveals Daisy trying to discourage him from chatting up Lilly because she's "just a kid". He's unfazed by that (red flag alert red flag alert woop woop das da sound of da police)

Chapter 7: Vera turns down Jericho's sleazy attempts to buy her a drink and invite her back to his place after shift, and he denies ever having seen Lilly when he's shown a picture of her, claiming that "she's not his type". Then he immediately rebounds in a record 0.5 seconds with the next girl that shows up (and serving her orders becomes our side quest for this level). Outro showcases Hank's green flag status offering his coworkers to drive them home since it's so late, and ends with him driving Vera to the police station so she can check on the status of the investigation.

Chapter 8: We play as Crystal in this level and let me tell you now, I hate it here. She goads on Vera for being "sluggish" and having a bad day and sucks up big time to the boss Mr Smirnov with "grand plans" to improve clientele, which of course gets him going and has him leaning towards granting her the permanent staff position. Then Gabe calls Vera with disappointing news and tells her he'll just give her the apartment keys after work.

Chapter 9: Gabe goes to Club to hand over Vera's apartment keys, which gives us our side quest for this level where we serve Gabe his orders for the night. When he releases the apartment back to Vera, he reveals that Lilly's ex-boyfriend Sam is the prime suspect. He also lets slip that their chief's trying to prioritize the case of a missing barmaid (most likely Daisy). We also get a flashback of what is probably the night Lilly disappeared, where she comes home to find Sam waiting in the dark, angry over her coming in late.

Delicious: True Love

Stage 3, Day 8: Philippe, a horny mustachio'd guy that made the moves on Emily back in Stage 2 and ends up having to share a passenger cart with her on the train, asks Emily about why she's so attached to Jean-Paul's letter. She tells him that she and JP had a summer thing when they were 16, and she wrote him a letter and thought he'd never replied. Turns out he did and the letter arrived a little late…like 16 years late. She says it's fate, but Philippe drops hints that maybe what fate was really trying to do was to make her cross paths with him along the way. He's really down bad for her and it's getting a bit painful to witness, tbh.

Stage 3, Day 9: Philippe writes a review for Fresco's Diner Express (the train restaurant…ohh also, Philippe's a renowned food critic), which he tears into pieces when Emily tells him "you're sweet but my heart's with someone else" and calls her a silly naive American girl whose head's filled with frilly "plastic" Hollywood love stories. Typical "I'm a nice guy" behavior, part of him still thinking that Emily "owes" him after he voluntarily bought her a ticket so she won't be kicked out the train. He tries to make amends when she goes back and gives him his torn up review that she taped back together, and says he's happy to stay friends.

Now see here I wanna believe that he means that, but I've seen "nice guy" behavior. They're never happy staying friends. They're like not-so-silent red flags 😤😤

Stage 3, Day 10: It's Emily's final day on the train and Fresco's a bit emotional because she's helped him so much (he's precious we must protect him at all costs). Philippe shows up at the end to wish Emily goodbye and good luck, finding her suitcase at the station that's now filled with a whole bunch of notes from her mother (she's another thing I don't even wanna touch on right now), and gives her the details of a restaurant where he believes she'll find Jean-Paul.

I'm now looking at the chapter titles for Stage 4, which takes place at a restaurant called "Chez Jean-Paul", and ngl y'all I'm scared. There's one here that says "A Bitter Blow" and something tells me Emily's not actually ending up with JP at the end of this story. Lemme just…preemptively sharped a pitchfork real quick…

Stage 4, Day 1: Emily's arrived at Jean-Paul's restaurant but he's not around, and she offers her assistance to the sole employee manning the place. Said sole employee then takes off to go to an appointment. 🤦🏻‍♀️ The day ends, still no JP, so she goes off to explore Paris and becomes so enamored with the place seeing all these couples so madly in love. Even the birds have their own love stories going on.

Imma tell y'all right now I have so many fears--

Stage 4, Day 2: Emily sees some flowers that remind her of Patrick (the boy next door who delivers flowers to her restaurant back home in Snuggford) and she has a moment where she's just happily remembering him before she up and decides to get some flowers for Jean-Paul. The day ends with her running into JP and him needing to jog his memory (it's been 16 years, so I can kinda understand), which really only kicks into gear when Emily starts reciting lines from his letter. They share a hug and they seem happy but…that chapter title from earlier is still giving me fears--

Stage 4, Day 3: Emily and Jean-Paul are catching up with each other, and that's really what the whole day revolves around. There was a side quest in this level where you'd have to tap on JP when he shows up because he's having a food fight with Emily while serving customers. He says a bit about her being worth waiting for, and they share a kiss. And here's where I have some critique for the story writers and game developers…

If y'all didn't want us to anticipate the twists, the chapter titles should have been hidden until the player reaches said level. Now I know that Emily's bound for heartbreak at JP's hands which makes it easy not to root for this relationship. Y'all should've pulled out the rug from under our feet without the early warning device. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Stage 4, Day 4: Ohh no. Ohh fuckque no I hate it here. Emily's over the moon and tells her new florist friend Amelie that she's reunited with her first love, and Amelie's equally excited because she thinks her boyfriend's about to propose after she's been dropping hints for the last six months. The chapter ends with Jean-Paul in a hurry and promising to see Emily later, but in his rushing he didn't see that a goddamn ring box fell out his pocket.

To quote Dr Swift herself, "I think I've seen this film before and I didn't like the ending" 😖😖

Stage 4, Day 5: Jean-Paul's clearly in a bit of distress because he can't find something, which opens up our side quest for this level, putting the ring back in his coat pocket. There's also an inscription on the ring about "love being a flower" which makes me even more convinced that this ring isn't for Emily, but rather someone else whose name sounds like "Emily". JP then asks Emily to go away with him and see the countryside, to which she says "Yes" because now she's convinced he's gonna propose to her there.

Stage 4, Day 6: Emily and Amelie make promises to each other to attend each other's weddings, both clearly excited about where their relationships are headed (meanwhile I'm here fully convinced that they're seeing the same man). At the end of the day, Emily asks Jean-Paul if they're going to see each other later that night but he says that he has "a prior engagement", but that he intends to whisk her away to the countryside the next night. So lemme just get this straight…he's gonna propose and get engaged to his long-time girlfriend (most likely Amelie), and he's turning Emily into an unwitting other woman by starting something with her without ever even once thinking that "Ohh oopsies I probably should've told her I have a whole ass relationship and I'm already in the proposal stage".

If OG story Jean-Paul has 0 haters, I am dead 😤

Stage 4, Day 7: The day starts off with Jean-Paul starting to wave his red flag loud and proud by showing annoyance at the sound of a child crying because he got a splinter, which has Emily side-eyeing him while she tended to the kid to get the splinter out. There's no side quest in this level, and the day ends with JP postponing their getaway because a friend of his is in town and "he hasn't seen him in so long and he wants to catch up".

Yeah no…I'm sharpening a pitchfork…

Stage 4, Day 8: Aaaaaand here it is. Big confirmations that this story's Jean-Paul is a piece of work that deserves to have da pipi chopped off. The day starts with Emily not having heard from him, the guy not even bothering to check on his restaurant that he claims he gave his entire life to just to earn his star rating, mind you. And it ends with Emily going to spend some time with Amelie, who reveals that she's engaged. They're planning a double date, when they see JP with another woman and kissing her ("haven't seen him in a long time" my ass). The two women reveal to each other in their shock that they've been seeing the same man, and Amelie's immediately on whack-a-cheater mode, while Emily breaks down in tears.

Stage 4, Day 9: We love Amelie in this household, she's a complete girl's girl, not even spending a single second even remotely annoyed at Emily and immediately goes in to hug her when they see each other again. She just hates that she wasted her time and moved to Paris for trash bag Jean-Paul. She walks off before the level starts, vowing to have her revenge. Then Philippe arrives excited to see Emily again and telling her he's had Chez Jean-Paul on his schedule to review, which kicks off this level's side quest of bringing him his orders. Amelie shows up at the end of the level, dousing the final dish that Emily serves Philippe with a heaping dose of hot sauce (high key hoping it's some Carolina Reaper levels of burn).

Philippe writes a review that will take away the restaurant's star rating, and JP goes rabid telling the two women that they ruined his life and "all because he couldn't help that he loved women", to which Emily pushes him into the fountain and Amelie delivers this absolute banger of a line:

Stage 4, Day 10: There isn't much to this day other than Emily saying goodbye to her new friends, and Amelie reminding her that one day they'll attend each other's weddings. We also have Nadia finally getting the quote right. "Love is the flower that grows in front of you." That sends Emily into another round of tears, and giving us as the viewer the glaring red neon sign that's been there since Stage 1, Day 1.

BAY-BEE. IT'S PATRICK. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE FRESHLY DELIVERED EVERY MORNING TO YOUR RESTAURANT FLOWERS 👏👏

Delicious World

Season 2, Episode 3, Part 7: This bit focuses more on Frank and Monet's side story, where Monet's cooking his boyfriend a simple risotto and Frank's trying to be reassuring that people would still love his recipes even if he pivots and tries to make simpler dishes, because what would matter is the taste. They have a discussion about what the people would think if he changed up his cooking style, and it led to how his reputation would be "ruined" if he comes out and reveals Frank to be his boyfriend, and sweet little pretend-Health Inspector boi says he's fine with staying private.

Sweet babey noooooo…you deserve better than to be hidden away in a corner 😤

Season 2, Episode 3, Part 8: Speaking of keeping relationships hidden…Jean-Paul's doing the exact opposite, constantly risking it all just to kiss his bb on the cheek out in public where anyone can see. And he shoots down the rumor about him and Shuvani. This is where it's giving me so much whiplash to play both this and True Love at the same time because while the original story's JP is a walking talking red flag, this one's steadily looking more and more like a green flag that I'm almost sad for him that he won't end up with Emily in the end. 😩

Gallery Coloring

If you're familiar with those games where you have to decorate your house/garden/cafe after completing enough levels or earning enough stars from completing levels, that's essentially the whole concept of Gallery. Except the levels are color by number that have varying difficulties.

The story I'm at right now is Leo and Mia (our main characters) are trying to get their friends Paul and Vivian, who've been crushing on each other, to make up and try their hand at a first date again, since the first one didn't go through because of Paul's outstanding levels of misfortune. Vivian's pissed and doesn't even want to look at Paul, let alone hear him out, and instead talks out what she wants to tell him by telling Leo what she appreciates about his and Mia's relationship in a way that's not so subtly criticizing and reading Paul for filth.

Meanwhile these four are all working together trying to get the cafe they've been renovating into a presentable enough state before an art critic named DeWitt comes in to meet with Mia and discuss her works.

There's also a Festival Season event that I'm trying to work through, which is just a mini story of Leo teaching his wife the ways of partying in a music festival.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure

A new update released this week, and gave us a few new morsels of lore. We go on a quest that spans 4 days to bring together Hapidanbui for a performance in hopes of reminding the Island Spirit that old long-running friendships are something to be cherished and hopefully heal her heart a little bit more and get her to open up a bit more to the idea of seeing her old friends again.

There was also a shorter quest that involved us bringing back weather into the island and getting it to rain with the restoration of the Aquafaller, so now it can rain throughout the biomes of the island, revealing blue flowers to water that will reward you with raindrops that can be traded for new furnitures and clothing items.

youtube & tiktok channels that got my watch minutes

India Rose Crawford

If y'all haven't seen the knitted frog stop motion animation videos yet, let me put you on because the way she has gotten to make these motions so smooth, it's like she's breathed life into this cute lil knitted frog?? Like, da fuckque??

SWOOP

SWOOP is one of those creators where when I see that she's posted something new, I wanna drop everything and watch through the entire video no matter how long it is. The new video she dropped this week was an hour and a half long, and she talks about Amanda Bynes and the devastating downfall of her career. If my heart wasn't breaking enough for her, it's just shattered now, and I just hope that whatever she's doing, that she's genuinely happy and giving herself the room and the patience to heal at her own pace.

Also, if Dan "The Foot Man" Schneider has zero haters, I am dead. Jail. Electric chair. 😤😤

Alexa Nikolas

While I can't find it in me to recommend a Trisha Paytas video, that's shockingly what's gonna happen right now, because Alexa made an appearance on Trisha's podcast "Just Trish" this week, talking about her experience in the set of Zoey 101, the abusive chapter of her life where she was a victim of child SA by her ex-husband and the cover up made by parties in the music industry that ultimately led her to starting Eat Predators. And while I do have my opinions on Trisha, I do have to give credit where credit is due and give them my respect for giving Alexa the time and space to share her story and let the emotions flow and not butting in with any potentially disruptive questions and adjusting accordingly when the mood shifts.

Also every single part of me itches so bad whenever I get reminded that she and most likely the rest of the cast don't actually get any residuals from Nickelodeon. Like excuse you?? After all those reruns that are still going to this day, and none of the child talents that helped y'all make those shows happen see a single cent of it?? What the whole grain full fat buttery fuckery is this??

ASMeRi Eats

On a lighter note, lemme share with y'all a mukbang video that had me going full on out of character and craving shrimp

Quinton Reviews

Quinton's become quite notorious for releasing videos that do deep dives of series that span anywhere from 2 to 21 hours. No, really…his Sam & Cat videos are a total of 21 hours spread across 3 videos.

Well this week a new video dropped on the Beverly Hillbillies, this time hosted by his father because Quinton's off hard at work on another project. And this video from his dad has a runtime of 38.5 hours. My eye's twitching just thinking about it, but for some reason I've started to watch it and I'm nowhere near even the 25% mark, but I'll ease my way through in multiple sessions.

stories to om-nom-nom next

Hello Kitty Island Adventure: Imagination Celebration Event

Not quite sure how much story they're gonna put into this event, but I hope that there's a good bit in it because there's castles and cute lil medieval fairy tale vibe type costumes involved, and also they're calling Kuromi "Spooky Queen Kuromi" so there's gotta be something there, right?

The Bricklayer

Honestly I just wanna watch this because Nina Dobrev's in it. I barely even remember what was in the trailer.

That's all for this week. Considering that I'm on vacation mode, chances are next week's post is gonna be even longer than this. I apologize in advance 🫡

[tora-the-cat]

Surprise surprise I have Thoughts about Peacemaker     ^-^ (and how he neatly ties up the themes of freewill in WoF arcs 1 & 2)

//spoilers for like. all of the first 10 WoF books but esp the very end of Darkness of Dragons

god my feelings about the end of the second arc are Numerous and Complicated and basically revolve around the three obvious Things; Peacemaker, Qibli-Winter-Moon love triangle, & Anemone saying lesbian rights. Lets start off with that first thing tho:

-full disclosure I actually like Peacemaker ngl. Like its smart Kinkajou got her moment to shine (fucking FINALLY) etc etc.  But I also don't think it was, like, a morally good or fine thing to do? But! I also think that was kind of the point!! kinda?

-(also even more important disclosure, I honestly don't like Darkstalker much at all, though if it wins me any favors I do think he's interesting and complex and all!)

-Ok listen so the series is like,, basically about freewill, right? It's kinda the central thesis of the series (or at least the first two arcs lmao that's all I've read lmao); is destiny something made for your or something you choose. Ya know, is Tsunami destined to be queen because she's the lost heir, are Animus's destined to loose their souls, if Peril is 'choosing' who she's devoted to is that freewill and/or how do you develop independence when you've never made a choice before, can Turtle avoid all the bullshit of the world by trying to keep his head down (no <3) was Moon destined to release Darkstalker all along, if you've been under mind warping mind control shenanigans' is your mind really your own and are you capable of making choices, etc etc I can do this with like most characters its REALLY prevalent in the series lmao.

-Anyway! the question posed by the series is 'can you choose your destiny or is it made for you?'. in the first five books there's one obvious massive driving force for this; the prophecy. Sunny is the only one really invested in the prophecy itself, Tsunami thinks it's all bull and is basically offended by the notion, Clay thinks they should just do their best, Starflight believes the prophecy will happen regardless so he's chill, and Glory is disillusioned and apathetic about it.

-Then they reveal that the prophecy is hogwash, and Sunny still believes in it anyway because it's what her whole life was based around and without it her life is meaningless. So her whole arc is finding another meaning in life with Thorn and the Outclaws and then choosing to do her best to fulfill the prophecy anyway, because someone has to and no one else will. So she chooses to do the prophecy, but it's a fake prophecy so it is her choice not something predestined for her, so there. Free will exists and is good and prophecies don't because no one can tell the future end arc

-then you start the next book with a protagonist that can tell prophecies For Real, and you get a little scared they're gonna backpedal or retread the same ground, but don't worry because the definitely-not-evil voice in her head and conveniently knows all about her powers so he can assure everyone that prophecies are not set in stone, just some most likely futures. Free will still exists Tsunami stans, dw

-And they can do that because the prophecy is not the question of the second series- Darkstalker is.

-The thing about the Darkstalker conflict is that it's about Utilitarianism, ya know? Like, he comes out and he says 'I can see all the futures, and I can tell for sure exactly which outcomes make the most dragons happy, and I have the power to not only see them but manifest them'. He doesn't care for other dragon's freewill- as long as they're happy or content or powerful, why would it matter if they got helped along there a little bit?

-OKAY so took us a hot second to get here! But! Peacemaker!

-It's valid and interesting I think because it kinda pushes the whole conflict into a paradox; they can't let Darkstalker carry on like he is, because he thinks he knows best for all of dragonkind and will do anything to get his version of a happy ending. But the only way to stop him from being a god emperor who's fundamental flaw is his lack of care about other dragon's free will and agency. And the only way to stop him and get an ending that's good for everyone is to take away his free will.

-It's the Batman no killing rule. it's that one DLC from Fallout 3 that's actually kind of good. If they're all in 100% on the 'free will matters above all else' angle, they can't stop Darkstalker because he doesn't want to be stopped. It'd be a utilitarian move, putting the needs of the many over the needs of the few, which goes against the Whole Entire Thing

-But! Darkstalker is also delusional and a narcist and an aspiring all powerful god emperor bent on wiping out or driving other tribes into hiding forever who just sucks, like, so much. So of course they turn him into a literal child without power lmao it wasn't really a question, it's just the ideological battle happening in the background. And it's what makes peacemaker so interesting!

-first of all, it's Kinkajou, the one who was most recently under a mind altering spell that she loathed. She hated anemone for even thinking about it and is still a little bitter, but when push came to shove, she's the one that did that to Darkstalker. It wasn't even just a 'make him the same dragon fundamentally but without the trauma and magic'- she changed his body (by turning him half Nightwing) and planted interests in his head (strawberries) and (is at least implied?) to have made him literally incapable of much evil. Like Moon confirms that in his head he isn't the same dragon at all.

-And like I get it! She is, very understandably, erring as far on the side of caution as physically possible! I'd do the same! It's not a diss or anything, and I’m certainly not saying that Kinkajou is just as bad as Darkstalker or will/can go on to be so! Not even a little lmao

-it's just. Interesting. Like, if you think about it, they did the same thing Darkstalker was doing to Fierceteeth for Clearsight, after everyone was loudly and visibly repulsed by it. It's the same thing that happened with Pyrite and Hailstorm, except entirely irreversible. Like that isn’t Darkstalker there anyway you slice it, for all intents and purposes he’s dead. but it's ok because he was a 'bad dragon' with no friends or family that would miss him in that form.

-Basically the first arc said 'free will is always the way to go and there's no justification for taking it away ever' and the second arc spent all of it's time building up to 'sometimes sacrifices have to be made'. So like everyone complains about it being tonally dissonant and out of character and a crop out and everything and I get that and I'm not saying that's objectively wrong or a bad take or anything! And, like most things in DoD, it was admittedly rushed and at least mildly underdeveloped lmao. But that's my first hot take, and hopefully my longest lmao

[sibillascribbles08]

If you could take creative control of ninjago what would you change

Christ...

WELL

Actually no idk where to start with this there’s so much anon there’S SO M U C H I guess I’ll do a run of MINIMAL changes tho (for as long as I can)

I don’t think I have to change much in the first two seasons, thankfully, since the writers actually sat down to think about what they were writing at the time but g o d did it go to hell afterwards

Season 3 - This Zane focused season is going to be ZANE FOCUSED DAMN IT. We’re focusing on his loss over his Father, having salt rubbed in the wound by having his father’s work turned into an evil army, and being faced with the fact he’s obsolete compared to it all. He keeps trying to stack up numbers to win, recalculate things, and it’s why his line at the ending ACTUALLY has impact. The thing that sets him apart from the nindroids, his ability to love, is what allows him to defeat the Overlord.

Jay, Cole and Nya love triangle is DESTROYED. Pixal, Zane and Cole is the new love triangle and later OT3

Season 4 - The explanation for the other EMs being around is far less stupid. Garmadon establishes that oh yeah all of your parents had elemental powers and even talks about a few of them because holy SHIT. Cole mentions his mom because he should have done that a g e s ago. Is this supposed to be a Kai season doesn’t feel like it. Open the season with better explanations of why the ninja split. Emphasis the fact that Kai blames himself for what happened to Zane, and continues to do so throughout the season. Add that to why he’s so desperate to save Skylor from her dad (not willing to lose someone else). We still lose Garmadon, Kai and Lloyd have a talk at the end of the season. Also ZANE IMMEDIATELY GOES TO GET PIXAL A NEW BODY WTHHH????

Season 5 - Idk this season was pretty good over all I think. A bit better lore established into the cloud kingdom, hints that they don’t actually control fate they just think they do. Explain where the FUCK NIMBUS CAME FROM?? Water can still beat up ghosts but idk feel like there should be some other factors involved, some magic. Kai and Zane figure out they can make water a LOT sooner. Also why doesn’t Kai just set the preeminent’s house armor on fire??? Should have. OH I did forget since this season is supposed to be for NYA GETTING HER WATER ELEMENT how about she actually GO WITH THE NINJA AND DO SOME SHIT SOMETIMES??? I don’t mind her training, specially Ronin helping her but like??? Wtf why not have her ENGAGE, idiots.

Season 6 - I’m the weirdo who actually likes season 6 but that doesn’t mean it’s not without its issues. I don’t mind Jay wondering about where he stands with Nya but his behavior throughout the season has to stay consistent. When he agrees with Nya he needs to let it go he needs to LET IT GO. IT LITERALLY SHOULDN’T BE BROUGHT UP AGAIN UNTIL THE LIGHTHOUSE. He also needs to linger more on his birth father (and besides he should have suspected he’s adopted since season 4 cause he knows neither of his parents had lightning powers). Zane doesn’t ignore Pixal’s warning about Nadakhan but if she’s off somewhere else idk how she gets threatened I’m sure Nadakhan could figure it out. OH and time can still reset and stuff idc but like, Jay and Nya need to talk about it and they need to GO BACK FOR ECHO. EVEN IF THEY DON’T FIND HIM THERE.

Day of the Departed - just wish it was longer tbh, but major changes: Why do the ninja not seem to care that cole is FADING OUT OF EXISTENCE and Lou should be a lot more worried about his son.

Season 7 - I mean, it’s mostly a trash fire, but I think it’d be a lot more enjoyable if they actually had good sibling dynamics going on. Acronix following his brother because he always has, but starts questioning their plans as things go. At first their relationship is much better, which is why they best Kai and Nya, but by the end that flips over. Actually have Kai and Nya having an ISSUE. Kai thinks their parents could have been traitors, Nya seemingly doesn’t care because she’s so wrapped up with her samurai x stuff being stolen. They end up fighting and don’t make up until the boiling sea. ALSO GIVE RAY AND MAYA A BETTER FUCKING EXCUSE FOR BEING GONE THEY COULD HAVE FUCKING SHANKED KRUX WHEN HIS BACK WAS TURNED GET OUT OF HERE HE HAD NO LEVERAGE.

Also Machia isn’t dead okay she’s just in the past she WILL COME BACK

Seasons 8 and 9 I’d say are pretty solid honestly? My minor changes: Garmadon isn’t Garmadon he’s a fucking fake get out of here with that shit THE REAL GARMADON WOULD NEVER. We actually learn where Mr. E came from I don’t even care if it’s just Harumi and UV talking about how they found him in a scrap heap and got him fixed just give me something. Stop treating Dareth like SHIT. Ronin and The Commissioner plan a jail break long before they’re let out in season 9. Teen Wu is a lot less... air headed. Like seriously he seems to have more logic when he’s a child it doesn’t add up. I’m not saying he has to remember everything but wth?? Oh, and Mistaké isn’t dead fuck you.

Season 10 - ............................................ delete it and start over. Literally, hate all of it, get it out of here. Four episodes for villains you built up like FUCK in the last two seasons??? All of them fucking as big as people???????? cowardly, weak, uninspired, I don’t want it I’m just going to have to redo this whole gd season. A) Oni leader is a QUEEN now and she can be up to 30 feet tall no I do not give a FUCK B) Fake ass Garmadon is revealed to be a different oni entirely he was an agent for the queen the whole time but never finished his mission C) She can still paralyze a bunch of people but man Lloyd you’re going to need more than a shiny tornado to fight her off. D) In fact you need to summon your other great grandma so the two of them can get over their divorce spat. E) Where’s the mask of vengeance bring that back into play. F) Mistaké shows back up to help. I suppose plot wise it can?? Mostly run the same but I think they’re going to have to run much farther than the city with how fast she spreads her reach. Also she’s weak for Lloyd because he’s the smol great grandson and he has to use that to his advantage to slow her down. Mistaké makes something that can unparalyze people and they get some of their allies back before the finale thank god. Faith isn’t just in a coma the whole GD time.

Season 11 - Fire half? Good. I need a much better reason why the ninja go to the never realm tho because wow did they just make everyone out of character in that last episode. The ninja have no reason to just ignore Wu and shove him out like that. Wu has no reason to NOT NOTICE LLOYD IS BREAKING INTO HIS ROOM WHEN HE WAS KICKING THE NINJAS ASSES IN THE FIRST EPISODE. Ice half?? ... h Yeah no they should have known Zane was the emperor from the start LMAO. Or at least suspected the possibility. The decades of time passing??? Deleted. Maybe give it a year. Idk why it’s just Lloyd snapping Zane out if why aren’t the other ninja involved like p l e a s e. Also kill Vex with an ice spike, thanks.

Season 12 - Over all I liked what this season had going but there... should have been more. And that ending felt so crunched together like damn... Unagami was a p cool villain at least BUT idk, despite all the focus on the plot so much of it didn’t feel tangible enough. Even if we’re going to focus more on the video game world I want to see more of what these NPCs are up to. Should have tossed in a couple of filler episodes. Also can someone just kill the Mechanic too SMH (and they should have tied Wu up in something sturdier how did he not just break out of that WHATEVER)

Suppose I’ll stop there I haven’t season season 13 yet.

Oh, the timeline itself needs some fucking work too. At least establish Wu and Garmadon’s sudden aging. At least establish how old Zane is (I’d believe he was built 40 years ago but I find it hard to believe he was active for all of it). Establish that yeah the FSM really did basically fuck off like idk 14 years ago and idk why the show acts like it was so long ago it couldn’t have been based on the other facts we know have Wu learn that his dad is a bitch ass motherfucker and he needs to ditch.

Honestly there’s more but like................. this is the simple version

[electronicdelusionstarlight]

A brief recounting of the events of Elder Scrolls Legends, and of the Forgotten Heroes that saved the Empire when no one else could.

The Argonian, The Myth, The Legend...

SWIMS-AT-NIGHT!

SMUGGLER, WAR HERO... AND THE MOST LOYAL OF FRIENDS.

Self-Proclaimed "Greatest Smuggler in Tamriel," Swims-At-Night was just a simple smuggler during the Great War, stealing his cargoes from the Thalmor controlled Cyrodill, traversing the treacherous seas to later sell it off to either the resistance in Hammerfell or the Thalmor themselves, to them at 5 times the original value and at half the quality, not really out of any patriotic duty as much as for the cold and shiny siren call of gold. A daring, dangerous life, that made him make contacts with all sorts of people, that however ill fitted his true calling.

For you see, for while he was indeed without equal in his smuggling and his ability with poisoned blades was without match... Swims-At-Night was a lore nerd at heart. Especially if he could turn a tidy profit from said lore nerding.

But let's keep things in order.

Everything in Swims-At-Night's life changed one fateful night, during that same Great War he was profiting from... When he met two figures.

One, was Tyr.

This Beefcake of a Nord was one of the few remaining blades, captured by the second in command of the Thalmor Warlord and Daedric Follower Lord Narafiin, and left to Rot and fight for his life in one of his dungeons/daedric lair/underground arenas, only to one day escape with the help of another... mysterious figure.

THE FORGOTTEN HERO! WAR CRIMINAL! BACKSTABBER! MASTER OF DISGUISE! GENERALLY GREEDY ASSHOLE! THE WORST OF FRIENDS! DID I MENTION BACKSTABBER, LIKE, SERIOUSLY, THIS FUCKER BACKSTABS A LOT.

Basically TESL Robbie Rotten. At least he hates Nazi elves tho.

Anyway, back to that one faithful night. Tyr and the Forgotten Hero, from here on TFH, had recently escaped their captivity, and were searching for a lift to reach Skyrim, so to warn the emperor, who had retreated there after the fall of the imperial city, of Narafiin’s Daedric Dealings, and also so they could scoop up a friend of Tyr along the way, so that she could shine a Light upon this mess.

So, in the middle of the night, in the middle of a Port patrolled by Thalmor Justiciars searching for both them and the Argonian’s stolen Cargo, Tyr and TFH decide to steal Swims-At-Night’s boat...

RIGHT. FROM. UNDER. HIS. GILLS.

Needless to say, it was friendship at first sight.

After discovering the 2 vagrants trying to steal his shit and a quick sword fight with the Forgotten Hero, the Trio is found by one of the aforementioned Thalmor Patrols, and therefore, seeing how they too were being hunted down by the Nazi Elves, he goes “what the hell, the enemy of my nazi enemy is my new best friend, let’s go guys, this trip is on me!”, scoops them up on his ship, and departs from the port toward northern shores.

They later shipwreck. Because dude might be the “Greatest Smuggler in Tamriel,” but I challenge you to steer a ship during one perfect storm with one bloodthirsty Breton pirate ship trying their best to board them and sink his ship at the same time. Not even (spoilers) Sails-Trough-Storms herself could do it, I say.

Anyway, they shipwreck, have some zany adventures in High Rock with some mudcrabs and some spriggans, find a wolf cub TFH might or might have not abandoned to his fate rather than take in and nurture as his new pet LIKE THE ASSHOLE HE IS, and finally, in the middle of a ancient ruin, surrounded by angry goblins who had just come in and killed the cultists that were trying to kill her...

She appears, in all her majestic might...

LAANETH! MISTRESS OF MAGIC! SCHOLAR AND RESEARCHER AMONG THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS COLLEGES AND MAGES GUILDS IN ALL OF TAMRIEL, AND EXPERT IN DAEDRIC ARTIFACTS AND LORE!

Anyway, they save Laaneth from a Goblin assault straight out of Goblin Slayer, and she informs them that her latest research was around a semi obscure prophecy called The Culling (II), a cautionary tale about how people shouldn’t standardize and destroy their Battle Royal Games for greed and get rich schemes, and about how, during a particular cosmological event, the veil between worlds will be weakened, and will be easily breached by anyone committing a sacrifice big enough (Like, for example, the entirety of the Imperial City Population) to reawaken the now forgotten Oblivion Gates, so that the maws of Oblivion will be able to be opened one last time, to unleash hell upon Nirn, so to hasten the deterioration of reality and the breaking of the world, thus destroying creation and possibly but most definitely not allowing the Thalmor to ascend to godhood in the ensuing chaos.

You know, standard Nazi Elves plans.

This is even more concerning of Lord Naarafiin simply having Dremoras and other Daedras in his armies, especially after it is revealed that some major entity, perhaps even a Prince, must be edging their bets on this thing happening, so they decide to quickly reach the Emperor’s Camp all together to give him the grave news, and see what to do next.

(If i may take a moment, I would like to point out how Swims-At-Night, his ship destroyed and his cargo now in the seas, without a single prospect of coin in sight, is still there, ready to fight and die for his newfound companions and freedom, because he might be a scoundrel and a Smuggler, but he is a Honest Smuggler goddammit, mass genocide and daedric outbreaks are a big no no for him.

He also probably already knitted some new best friends sweaters already for him and his bros and is already probably preparing one for his new nerd elven friend, and probably didn’t want them to go to waste, so there’s that).

Anyway, our heroes got to Skyrim. Some more shenanigans ensue, a bar fight, some imperial deserters, a High Elf Merchant that was trapped by giant spider and had NOTHING TO DO WITH THE THALMOR TFH might have just been plain old racist too and left for dead rather than help, the ghost of another merchant asking for revenge against some other, human bandits that killed him and his family for their gold, and all that...

Anyway, they reach the Emperor’s Camp, where we meet the last members of this ragtag bunch of misfits...

GENERAL CASSIA! SECOND IN COMMAND DURING THE GREAT WAR UNDER EMPEROR TITUS MEDE II, AND MOSTLY THE ONE WHO HAD TO DO THE DIRTY WORK FOR HIM IN THE FORM OF DISCIPLINING DESERTERS AND ALL THAT NASTY SHIT.

Anyway, a plan is formed. Our Heroes must return to the Imperial City, disguised as Gladiators, and will use a secret passage near the Arena, the SAME passage the Hero of Kvatch used all those many years before to escape the imperial prison, courtesy of Swims-At-Night, the History Nerd him, to reach into White Gold Tower, and steal the greatest treasure of all.

THE ORB OF VAERMINA!

For you see, Lord Naarafiin indeed had the help of Daedric Princes, ready to spring up at the occasion of the walls of reality getting thinner, and Vaermina was among them. The Warlord was using the Orb to spy on the Imperial Troops movements and plans, easily outwitting them and laying waste along the country, committing one atrocity after the next, reading the field play for the final sacrifice, and our heroes needed to get the sphere away from him, so to better prepare a effective attack plan against the city before it was too late.

So, our heroes reach the Imperial Capital, passing as gladiators, and go into the secret passage, now swarming with perilous undead after many years from the 3rd era...

And with a mysterious altar, appeared out of nowhere, whose burning light, as bright as dawn breaking upon the fields, shone against the undead hordes, aiding our heroes in their time of need as it scorched them to a crisp.

For it seemed, not all Princes were in favor of Naraafiin’s plan of destroying the world.

Or maybe Meridia just wanted to scorch some Mummies, who knows with her.

Anyway, our heroes reach the highest floor of the Tower, where the Orb is left unprotected...

And where they are promptly ambushed by Naarafiin second in comand!

REIVE! THE BLADE MASTER! THE PAIN-SINGER! THE LORD OF THE ARENA!

He was him who had captured Tyr and TFH back at the start, and with a swift move, he has now taken Tyr Hostage, the gleaming point of his blade ready to slash the man’s manly and muscled chest at a wrong move.

BUT THAT’S NO ORDINARY BLADE I SAY!

(Yeah, only found this image for the card art, sorry)

THAT’S GOLDBRAND! THE SWORD OF BOETHIA, DAEDRIC PRINCE OF PLOTS! FATHER OF MYSTERIES! MOTHER OF SHADOWS! AND A BUNCH OF OTHER VARIOUS TITLES WITH OTHER VARIOUS GENDERS! AND THE REAL DAEDRIC PRINCE BEHIND THIS MESS!

For what better plot, than to plot to destroy the world, after all?

TFH has however been also fast, and has already nicked the Orb for himself, the kleptomaniac little shit. He is now presented with a choice. Keep the Orb, and watch his friend and companion die... or Give Reive the Orb, and get his friend back... “unscathed.”

And TFH, the absolute bastard and backstabber... chooses to keep the Orb.

(I mean, yes, technically, you can decide to spare Tyr... Except dude still dies during the ensuring fight as he shows his massive balls of nordic steel and SMASHES A DAEDRIC ARTIFACT TO PIECES RIGHT IN FRONT OF A ANGRY HIGHER DREMORA, and it is canon that TFH used the orb at least 10 times in his life if we go by Achievements, which he couldn't really do if he let Tyr smash it, soooo...)

Anyway, Tyr dies, Reive is Angry (And so are Laaneth and partially Cassia, like, dude was Laaneth’s friend more than he was anyone else, they had HISTORY, she is understandably angry with TFH, and he was working in close quarters with Cassia due to their ranks in the imperial army and shit...), and a battle ensues. TFH manages to overpower Reive and kill him, thus gaining the favor of Goldbrand and perhaps Boethia’s Themselves given their great betrayal and show of strength, since that’s how Boethia Rolls...

Anyway, They daringly escape the Imperial City, everyone a bit more somber after the whole ordeal, even despite the victory, and reach the Emperor’s camp nearby, reading for the next day siege, right in time for the Culling... BUT OH NOES! A Thalmor assassination deep cover team (which is composed entirely by Bosmer for some reasons... what, are Kahjiits not stealthy enough for your deep cover assassinations?) has attacked the Emperor in the night!

The assassins have been repelled, and Titus Mede II is safe, but the Emperor is now no longer fit to ride the next day. This will surely be a deep blow to the morale of the army, even now that has been bolstered by new and fresh recruits from Skyrim, and Cassia isn’t sure anymore they are going to pull it through...

And it’s here, that our “hero” truly unleashes his inner Robbie Rotten, as a dastardly plan is formed, I’m 99% sure after Swims-At-Night’s Counsel.

The emperor will remain in his tent, in the middle of the camp, unseen and unheard as he rests, as TFH wears his armor, and rides into battle on the front lines with his army, disguised as the emperor, keeping the Morale High as he valiantly fights of the Nazi Elven Scum, his Golden Blade in one hand, his mystical sphere of dreams in the other, as he conquers more and more ground, his friends leading 3 other different fronts in a 4 way attack on the imperial city, crashing trough to stop the massacre from happening...

And yet.

It’s too late.

Naaraafiin has already killed the entire population of the Imperial City, and the Gates of Oblivion are opened. He meets what he thinks is the emperor, his personal guard at his side, as all manners of Atronachs and Dremora are unleashed upon the city, and soon the world, as the Oblivion Gates open once more and the walls of reality are weakened.

TFH has to think fast, and so, attacks the Warlord, who easily counters TFH with his magic, now overpowered by the think layers between realms and his own, general overpowered Final Boss Magic, blasting shit left and right at a frankly insanely low magicka cost...

And yet, perhaps, this overpowered magic will be Naaraafiin’s Downfall, for the Orb of Vaermina cannot just enter the dreams of your enemies to spy on their plans, but can steal mirages of powers and creatures from your opponent mind, and use them against them.

And so, witnessing his prowess with the sword, and finally recognizing Goldbrand as Goldbrand, and the “Emperor” as the one who had killed Reive, as he steals one of his massive blast right from under Naarafiin’s mind, and uses it against its own master...

Naaraafiin falls. Pushed by his own arcane magick, perhaps still alive, perhaps not, inside one of the holes in reality his culling had created, the link between him and the fracture of reality severing, as the Dremoras and Daedras vanish into Oblivion, and the gates close.

The battle is won. The Imperial City is taken back, if destroyed and with little to no population left.

And the Thalmor are retreating.

TFH and his friend go back to the emperor, who congratulates with them about the victory, for the man really knows when the delegate, and gifts TFH his armor, as the 4 companions depart, each for their own road, perhaps to never meet again...

And so the story ends, with a empire saved from the brink of destruction, yet irreparably damaged, a friendship betrayed, and terrible memories people will never forget.

But when the story ends...

Another begins.

For to paraphrase Marvel:

SWIMS-AT-NIGHT WILL RETURN...

In Elder Scrolls Legends III: Return to Clockwork City!

(Tho there’s the Fall of the Dark Brotherhood first, probably going to do that first, gotta show you just how much of a Asshole TFH can be).

[atrophiedcompassion]

the last jedi review

spoiler free: it was overall good, but not as good as it could’ve been. it had about 30 mins of filler and some of the plots execution was less than desirable. certainly needs at least one more viewing for a proper opinion

spoiler full review under the cut

what they did well was near perfection: Luke, Leia, Kylo and Rey were beautifully characterized, their arcs clear, well done, exceptionally emotional and powerful.

First of all, they finally gave Leia the standing she deserved in the new trilogy. it was like Rian Johnson heard my criticism of TFA Leia (no force sensitive mentions, just an old hag they had no clue how to use. it was and remains one of the most disappointing things about TFA) and finally gave her a meaty role, in a way, the perfect way to end Carrie’s work with Star Wars. sure, the travel through space scene was a bit cartoonish, but finally, FINALLY, we were given, shown, FORCE SENSITIVE LEIA. it was emotional, especially that it came after the very clear moment between her and Kylo, when he hesitated in shooting at her ship. it was very clear that they were sensing each other and Kylo’s reaction when the ship was shot after all was also amazing.

her whole role was great, finally the General i had always expected from post ROTJ Leia to be. and even if they didn’t kill her on screen, and it’ll have to be an offscreen death (or who knows...who knows), i think they did conclude her arc remarkably and whatever happens in episode IX it can only finish her participation in a great way. 

the final meeting with Luke, the forgiveness, the closeness, i am so glad they gave us that. the space twins live on, and we were given true closure.

second of all, Luke. LUKE WAS PERFECT. the guilt, the wisdom, the cranky old master behaviour a la yoda in ESB, it was miraculous. every time he was on screen it was emotional and powerful. the awe and fright at Rey’s abilities. his disappointment that she went straight to the dark, that she didn’t fight temptation at all, when it was clear that he had done that all his life and it had cost him so much! i mean, it’s clear that Luke’s resolve in ROTJ is strong, and that he will certainly not cave in to the Emperor’s requests. but now, with his anger at Rey’s easy temptation, it becomes clear to me how much it had cost him to say no to Vader in ESB. at his lowest moment, having just been mutilated, having just learned that his great mentor Obi Wan had lied to him, at the very revelation that the long sought after father was finally before him offering him the world, he still found the courage, the strength and maybe even the weakness to say no. to allow himself to die rather than to fall to the dark side. and then this kid, with enormous grasp of the Force, dives right into the darkness on the first occasion!! the fact that they gave us that on screen was immense.

and then, the final battle, when he displays the most stupendous command of the Force, when he shows Kylo off in a spectacular fashion, that was amazing, it was one of the best moments in the whole SW saga.

the death moment was perhaps a little sudden, because it clearly stemmed from the fight with Kylo, and not later, but it still comes peacefully, and not at the actual, real hand of his nephew.

Now, Rey, her journey was not as spectacular as it was in TFA, but she was the emotional core of the film and in many ways, the only true pure Force sensitive person in the saga. sure, Leia was as pure and free of temptation as possible, but there is something murky about the relationship between her, Ben/Kylo and Han. something happened to Ben to have all that great darkness inside him, and as a comic panel once said, it surely came from her side of the family. Rey can and did dive into the darkness and came out unscathed. she not for one second yields to Snoke nor is she willing to accept Kylo’s offer of joining him to rule the galaxy (at some point in these movies, this has to stop tho. it’s the worst offer in the galaxy ffs! no-one seems to take up on it). she is the voice of reason and the hope the galaxy needs.

the big family reveal is underwhelming for a reason. it’s something Kylo says, it’s her biggest fears that he’s voicing, trying to play with her mind. it may be a misdirection, my dad says, and he’s been right about this (after snape’s “treason” in HP6, he was the first to point out that it may play out differently in the end. plus, should her true, actual, shocking parentage be revealed in the middle film, it’d be too much on the nose copying of ESB. we already had the offer scene and the moment between the dark and the light characters.

Finally, Kylo Ren. first of all, what a pleasure it is to watch Adam Driver perform!! he is magnetic in every scene and you can literally see the conflict in his face. his weirdly beautiful face. i love the guy (i mean, i went to see Silence in the theater, a religious film! starring Andrew Garfield!). i think his arc is tremendous and if my gut feeling is right, they might actually make him the big bad. no redemption. he just follows the darkness through and through. at the start of the movie, he has that moment with Leia, he hesitates, he takes the finger off the button. at the end, he barges full on, take no prisoners kinda way, totally willing to kill every single person in the mine/bunker, his mother included. it’s interesting, because so far it seems that killing Snoke (and not his father or Rey) finally completed his apprenticeship in the dark side, killing the puppet master finally allowed him to go completely dark.

@winteredfall believes there’s the parallel with Anakin, who also made the offer to Padme, to kill the emperor & take over, and in the end he was still redeemed.  but....that was the third movie. this is just the second movie. i think it’d be much more interesting if this guy didn’t get redemption and if he was simply the bad guy. it’d make the character richer, it’d be a departure from the classic SW and it’d show that some people cannot be redeemed. it’d finally take Nu SW into a new direction and the following trilogy wouldn’t have the baggage. (side note: for me, after learning in the prequels what Vader did to access the dark side, aka kill 30 kids, Vader’s redemption in ROTJ is meaningless and unacceptable. for me, Vader cannot be redeemed after we know what he did. he can be forgiven by his son, who doesn’t exactly know the details. but me as the viewer, i cannot forgive him anymore. his son saving is nearly an empty gesture given his actual really heinous crimes. and this is why i hate the prequels, because they ruined Vader for me, arguably the most interesting character of the OT)

the offer to Rey immediately after offing Snoke shows that he never really wanted to be good. he just wanted to stop being manipulated and used. his rage after she rebukes him and takes off is not brattisness, but simply the dark side finally taking over. rage fuels the dark side, anger is the prime motivator, so it all works. and Kylo is a better character for it. and the movie could take the SW saga into a whole new direction. but we shall see.

The Force was finally restored to its original meaning, fuck the midicloridians. Sure, luke’s explanation seems a rehash of Obi Wan’s but it had to be done. also perfect was Luke’s put down of the Jedi and their hubris, it was amazing to see the concerns people had with the prequels, namely the sith emerging during the Jedi’s highest power, addressed and put to bed.

the Kylo - Rey relationship was intense, and heightened, but unlike in TFA, where it did have some dark sexual undertones (Kylo does mind rape Rey and the sexual overtones of that scene cannot be overlooked), this time it had a very sibling vibe. Rian Johnson took note of the unholy Reylo shippers and of the effects of that scene in TFA and turned it around. sure, it was weird that Rey was bashful to see Kylo shirtless (but thank you for the scene nonetheless), but all that malefic sexual energy from TFA was gone here and it felt great.

all their scenes together, be it in the Force, or actually side by side fighting were superb. they have immense chemistry and made it all seem very palpable. also, at the end, where Rey’s leaving in the Falcon and they communicate once more, that was not Snoke’s doing, so their connection IS real, and not “forced” by a higher power.

now, what they did wrong may actually be not that bad on a second viewing, perhaps it needs a little more attention to detail. but so far, the whole Casino plot, get them on the FO ship, Benicio del Toro char, all of that was awful. i understand the political aspect of the plot, of showing the war profiteering and the real reason why the galaxy is still at war, which is highlighted by the fact that at the end, no-one comes to the aid of the Resistance. but the tone of those scenes was all wrong. it was choc full of species, of way too much slapstick humour, cutting away from Resistance cannot get a moment’s respite really awful situation, to Rose & Finn riding blissfully, almost forgetting their mission, on those animals?! it was worth it now that they saved those animals, even if they were about to die and leave their Resistance with no actual hope?! WHAT THE FUCK!! i get why it was liberating for characters like Rose & Finn, who had lost everything and had always been downtrodden, to finally do something rebellious and for themselves, but in the bigger picture of what was happening with the remaining Resistance crew, it was very offputting.

i liked Rose a lot, because she had heart and seemed sharply focused, but then..they gave her some really weird choices. it was almost like let’s give the POC characters something meaningless to do (because they eventually not only fail their mission, but they bring into Resistance secrets a third party who betrays them, leading to a near disaster for the Resistance), while the white characters were given the actual plot, and actual plot resolution. remember, Poe is also mistaken in his plans, and eventually, the white woman Holdo was right all along.

now, let’s get into the open misogyny of Poe Dameron’s character. undercutting even Leia, and causing massive loss (all the bombers!!!) in the opening battle and acting like he was right. disbelief that the heroic Vice Admiral Holdo is a woman (that was such a jarring moment, wtf!!) and not trusting her, and her cautious ways. of course, the plot is awfully trying to make us think Holdo is a bad guy, simply by having her not relay her every decision to an underling, which she should do why!??! (because he is the man right?) the reveal is just awful and even if i read somewhere that some folk like how the second in command is bad trope was subverted, Holdo was highly mistreated by her inferior and we can only understand that it was because she was a woman.

why they chose to portray Poe this way, i don’t know. but the whole plot was very very poor and even if the end is quite satisfying, as Holdo’s cautious, womanly plan actually works, she saves the day, and Poe’s manly action plan fails, it still begs the question why was this whole plot necessary!?

what was also filler was the minute rivalry between Phasma and Finn, absolutely pointless. also, i know Finn / John Boyega is a main character, but after giving him a horrible plot, him sacrificing himself would’ve been a little more satisfying than him being “saved” by Rose out of love. that whole romance came out of nowhere! of course, with Finn sacrificing himself we wouldn’t have the epic Kylo - Luke confrontation, still the resolution of Finn’s sacrifice could’ve been better. Also, this romance feels made up just so they wouldn’t have to “ship” Finn with Rey, even if for sure, they have far better chemistry, an actual story together and real feelings for each other. maybe i am just looking into this from an inappropriate angle, but it did somehow bothered me that they aren’t willing to let Finn/Rey happen. while i certainly don’t ship anyone in the new movies, some chars have obvious chemistry together while some don’t!

finally, who is Snoke!? his death probably robs us of any possibility of finding out who he was. i mean, this guy seems far more powerful than the Emperor even, so where did he come from? was he another hidden apprentice!? was he the emperor in a new disguise!? was he just some random dude who happened to be exceptionally good with the Force? how could he come to power when Luke/Vader ended the sith in ROTJ!?! all these questions might never receive an answer. i mean, the whole Casino scene proves why an organization like the First Order can prosper and exist in the first place, as war is profitable as fuck. but there’s no explanation for this Force sensitive ultimate bad guy. ugh!

now what was truly atrocious: all the animals, the 4 tittieded animal Luke milks (blue milk! but are they telling me this is where Beru also got the milk? because for sure those creatures didn’t look like desert dwellers. and if it was imported, no wonder they were poor LOL), the island caretakers, the porgs, the animals Rose & Finn ride, all the Casino creatures. filler filler filler. this is pure disnification and it sucks

BB8 was also just awful. he was given R2D2 in ROTS powers, remember how bad it was when R2 started flying?!? BB8 showing up in the Imperial pacer was worse!! a true great reveal would’ve been if it was the BDT char coming to an unlikely rescue minutes after selling Rose & Finn out, but no. it had to be the wonder robot! how did he get up there in the first place!? that was horrendous. and i will finally say it. i hate BB8. i didn’t like it in TFA, but here i hated it. god!

and finally, the marvel type jokes seconds away from a highly emotional/intense moment. i understand the technique and even in marvel movies it is sometimes hit and miss, but in the tonally dark TLJ, where the resistance cannot catch a break, are taking loss after loss, with less and less hope and more and more deaths, these cute moments don’t fit at all. SW needs humour, even in its darkest movies, but not this type of humour. give us something else. or at least, give us the joke after the tears have started flowing, and not when they’re just still brimming in the eyes, that is not too much to ask!

overall, this is a 8.5 i would say, even if i have a lot of criticisms, the action scenes are brilliant and it has some real, amazing, SW-like moments.

[todokori-kun]

I APOLOGIZE, QUEEN LUNA. PLEASE ALLOW ME TO BEG FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS-

(tbh the reason I don’t play them is because I don’t really play any kind of game XD I’ve played a few free things on the internet but other than that, not much)

OMG thanks for the link! I might try it out soon :D (And wow, Rumpel. Just, wow.)

WAIT, IS THAT LADY A DATEABLE CHARACTER

Urie/Saiko is so freaking adorable :3 and it’s the worst thing ever that it does have some canon evidence but Ishida keeps teasing us like: *gives some nice, cute Urie/Saiko material*

Fandom: AWWW is it gonna be canon? Are they actually gonna be happy for a while???

Ishida: *gives Mutsurie scene with Urie clearly pining over Mutsuki while Mutsuki’s just talking about Kaneki*

Fandom: …of course.

TYSM <333 I’ll get it to you as soon as I can :D

HxH is definitely a lot of fun! I’d like to recommend Hisoka’s character song (‘Kyousou requiem’) to you because W O W

I got to the part where Father’s ‘creating’ humans. That was freaky. Tbh though my favorite parts of this volume might have been Pride’s defeat and Kimblee’s farewell…that was perfect. I actually sorta like Kimblee now. Of course, I’d never want to meet him irl and he’s still a terrible person, but at least he never betrays his own beliefs.

(I know that Roy will get his eyesight back next volume so that’s good, but Greed’s…gonna die, isn’t he? Uuugh)

I have come to conquer you puny humans with the power of feels. Fear me.

Wait, does that mean you relate to Al or that you think I’m like Al? Sorry, got a bit confused there ^^;;

I’m Hohenheim minus his awesome moments. The bad social skills, the awkwardness, the way he honestly TRIES to be a nice, normal person even if it hardly ever works out…the more I see of him the more I feel like I’ve never related this much to a fictional character (except maybe Kaneki).

You really do remind me of Riza and Winry. The strength, the resolve, the wit and caring=100% Queen Luna.

Ed is frankly a little creeped out that the Colonel even thought that HE, Edward Elric, barely a teenager, could or would steal his girlfriend.

(I headcanon that Ed and Queen Luna are actually BFFs and team up to prank Roy.

Roy always feels so betrayed because whenever he’s doing something totally, not at all stupid, his girlfriend always sides with Fullmetal. “Luna, what did I do. Did I forget to do the dishes again. Was it the extremely cheesy and badly written explicit romance book I bought you on Valentines day. That was a joke, please forgive me”

Also he is extremely salty when he realizes you chose Water Alchemy as your specialty. He had enough of the constant rain jokes from Edward and Riza’s comments about him being useless on rainy days, and now this. The world is too cruel.

(But no matter how grumpy and passive-aggressive he gets when you beat him, of course he’s the proudest when you make good use of your skills. Like when you destroy an enemy in combat- especially if the enemy was underestimating you “That’s MY girlfriend, and she is amazing”))

Yeah, Air Alchemy could actually be one of the most dangerous types if you knew how to use it…Medicinal Alchemy/Alkahestry is still my thing though ^^

(‘peaceful’ do you know how I look when I play the piano and nobody’s around. Dude. That’s when I go rage mode and start playing the loudest, wildest songs ever like He’s a Pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean LOL)

That’s still adorable though omg ;-; the sad thing though is that it would be easy for him to not realize that I have anxiety and assume that I just didn’t like him, because like I said, I’d probably be ok with Mei and Yoki would be easy enough for me to talk to as well (people like Yoki either make me laugh or frustrate me and in the end I’d probably end up snapping at him). Then Queen Luna would come along and I’d suddenly become super talkative.

And when he walked into the room I’d either automatically shut up or give Queen Luna a look like “please take me out of here I don’t want to embarrass myself”.

(Would Queen Luna help me, though?)

Mei’s view of Ed is the ultimate Expectation vs. Reality.

Yep, I really want to know OC’s real name ;-; (I think I’d probably slip up and keep calling him Ciel for a while tho lol). And yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing what happens the next chapter…all this chapter really gave me was hints of insecurity from OC?

IT’S THE STAR SPANGLED MAN WITH A PLAN

Looking forward to your reaction :) (probably a lot of tears)

OMG that sounds so cool! Like, natural, 'ginger’ red or bright red? Either way I bet you’re gonna look amazing, Queen Luna <3

(P.S: You know I mentioned a piano recital? It’s not happening. There was an incident with the teachers at the place where I was learning piano so I don’t go there anymore.

Basically, my mom was already sort of frustrated, because they also teach violin there and my litle sister used to learn violin- the teacher told us we’d have to come way earlier for lessons because she was busy with other lessons too, so we did, but she was like literally never on time? We came early but my little sister had to have piano lessons first because the violin teacher didn’t show up until later. So there was that.

And then there was the thing where they just didn’t let us decide the lesson times at all? Like, always “we’re too busy at that time, that’s too early, too many children at that time…” and they were kinda rude about it too (also once I went there at a later time and there actually weren’t that many kids? Wth)

Then they sent my mom a message. You know how usually you have to study with music theory books too when you learn how to use an instrument? My little sister’s only five (turning six this August) and she was often tired out from soccer lessons by the time she went to piano, so my mom asked the teachers if she could just not do music theory when she was too tired. they agreed.

But the message was basically 'she keeps saying she doesn’t want to do music theory and when we let her rest she keeps wandering around and bothering other people/interrupting other people’s lessons’. Like, ok, if she’d been doing stuff like that since the beginning we could understand that, but I had piano lessons at around the same time as her and she literally just sat and read books when her lessons are over and she’s not doing music theory? Also, until that message all the teachers just kept telling us what a wonderful, intelligent student she was and there was literally no mention of her bothering anyone so it was like??? what is this???

And when my mom called the teacher and asked her about the message she was like “I don’t see how that’s rude, please stop being so pushy/bossy, also I was always on time for the violin lessons what are you talking about?” Just. Wow.

When we went to pick up our music books after mom said we weren’t going to take lessons there anymore, one of the teachers came out and kept gushing about how 'Evans and her sister were SUCH amazing students, we’ll be so sad to see them go’ and she hugged me? tbh it felt really awkward and I was screaming internally through the whole thing because WOW I hate being touched by people I’m not close with lol)

*ahem* before anything: If I ever hear you say another word about your art being bad, I swear I’ll throw myself out of the window. Because it’s actually adorable?? I cry?? Touka’s hair truly looks fluffy and I LOVE the way you drew her lips. So, please, have faith in yourself, your art is absolutely gorgeous! 

Well, Otome games aren’t for everyone, tbh. I have a friend who gets easily embarrassed and she honestly can’t play them because… well, gets embarrassed at them. You should’ve seen her face when I first showed her the games, especially when the flirting began XD

I have finished the whole game. (No, you can’t date her T_T) All the endings, good and bad. 10 of them. My heart is in pieces. I wanna cry.  OKAY SMOL BRIEFING ON THE REMAINING CHARACTERS!

This is Fritz! He’s MC’s personal knight and a professional cinnamon roll. His route honestly made me so emotional (;﹏;) Not as emotional as the last one, though. He’s my 3rd favourite of the 5! His bad end was the worst of them all, though. I actually started crying. It was 1am when I did it. I wonder what my mom would’ve said if she’d seen me, at 1am, crying over a fictional character.

And last but (definitely) not least, my fave <3

Waltz- he has the Neverland curse, which means he remains as a boy until it’s broken.

This is after he breaks it. Damn. Other than the fact that his story is a trope I really love, he’s also a generally nice person, with a personality better than most of the dateable character. Also, his route is considered to be the ‘True’ route, the one you’re supposed to play last, because it has most spoilers.  I cry.

Okok, enough with ‘Luna reviews Otome Games’

And then you realise they meant it in the ‘conceal yourself’ way, not HIdeyoshi.Fuck.

Well, the Urie/Saiko was cute? BUT THAT’S IT?? Where’s the dramatic reveal? The confession =3= ((Luna is forgetting that this isn’t a romance manga))

Ishida is giving us mixed signals. 

Yeah, Kimblee’s farewell does make you wanna respect him. At least he didn’t try to be someone else. Pride was cute, tho. He was a demon who’d kill without a second thought, but he was a cute demon.

Yep, Roy does see again. …. Aha. I cry. But at least he dies heroically? 

I’m gonna get a stronger flask. That way you’ll never be able to escape muhahahahahhahaha

You’re like Al! Absolutely adorable!

Yet, badass at the same time!

Well, at least you’re not as insane as Kaneki? You definitely have more mental stability than him.

Honestly, if I was at the age where it’s socially acceptable to date Mustang, then I’m definitely not at the age when it’s socially acceptable to date Ed, and vice-versa. It’s ridiculous how he feels threatened by a kid XD On the other hand, there is a Xingese prince, now emperor ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Honestly, we’d prank him so much XD I’m pretty sure it’d mostly involve water. And rainy days.  Maybe his umbrella would conveniently disappear during those days. Or his hair would accidentally turn pink. Whoops.  Who knows, maybe I partly chose Water Alchemy to spite him XD

I think Medicinal Alchemy would be very, very appreciated in Amestris, especially considering there is none of it there. You’d be able to make mad money hahah But you’d also help a lot of people, so that’s admirable as well ^^

… Let’s pretend you were inspired to play a song that was peaceful for once and you’re feeling the peace. So you surprise him some other night by playing something he definitely didn’t expect

That’s why I’m there to help you! To show him that you just need a bit of time to warm up to people and maybe whisper a few hints to how to get you to warm up into his ear! So he realises you’re only a bit intimidated, and tries to lessen that effect.  I’d also ask Mei to help you. Probably offering something related to Al in return XD

Yeah, he’s definitely insecure. I mean, he didn’t say a single thing back and he calls himself a spare. That’s depressing. I just want him to be happy. After all the suffering he went through, he deserves it.

Is... is it cap?

I’m scared. But then again, I’m always scared when you recommend me something.

I think it’s supposed to be flame red? But since I have naturally darker hair, it’s possible that it’ll be more ginger-ish, because the dye won’t be so visible. Who knows, we’ll see ^^

Whaa?? That all seems really, really uncomfortable, especially the hugging. I mean, why. They really seem two-faced. But, maybe it’s for the best. At least now you don’t have to worry about freezing up during the recital? Will you continue playing the piano, though? It’d be a shame if you let the skills go to waste. You can always practice with anime music/songs you like if Bach and Mozart get boring :P

[bidickgrayson]

i’ve finally almost gotten to the place in persona 3 where i stopped playing a couple years ago. just got to october, and i stopped some time in november in my first playthrough

it’s interesting to revisit shinjiro’s death a couple years later, because that death was one of the few things i remembered with any kind of detail. i remember being very angry at the storyline that had a ten-year-old kid plot revenge for the death of his mother. couldn’t really understand that urge/the fact that that kind of storyline was coming from a TEN YEAR OLD

and i’m still not a fan, but i am a little less directly angry with ken. the first time, i wasn’t expecting it, and so i was just angry that ken got shinjiro into a situation where he was killed lol. i had a lot more sympathy for ken this time around, when i knew what was coming the whole time, and could remind myself more rationally that ken didn’t actually kill shinjiro

really where i disagree with the writing around shinjiro’s death the most is around the aftermath, primarily around akihiko’s reaction. first of all, BULLSHIT on the fact that akihiko was like “we need to stop treating ken like a kid” because HE IS A KID!!!! what are you talking about!!!! “he needs to make his own decisions” like OKAY i get that you want to respect his autonomy but....he was just a kid who plotted a revenge-murder of a high schooler who killed his mom in front of him, only to watch in horror as that high schooler THROWS HIMSELF IN FRONT OF A GUNSHOT TO SAVE THE KID’S LIFE and then died in front of the kid. there’s no acknowledgement of the trauma, because they’re trying to treat this precocious ten-year-old like he’s an adult, when frankly, no adult would go through that without some trauma!! it’s just dumb. and i can forgive the sees members for some of it, because this is a bunch of high schoolers dealing with some heavy shit with no good adult supervision (lol @ ikutsuki), and they’re all just kids themselves, so i can’t really blame them for not knowing the best way to handle it and stumbling through on their own

also, what makes it worse is that it was literally just revealed that ken was suicidal/wanted to die like, just a while before, and tbf none of the other sees members knew, but i knew as the audience, and so to have akihiko go like “well, he’s gonna do what he’s gonna do” was so jarring and distressing. GET THIS KID SOME HELP! but. whatever. and then ken of course decides to come back and has a new resolve, and it’s treated as though that’s the really strong thing to do and not a definitely unhealthy lack of concern for mental well-being. “i’m strong so i’m not going to let the multiple traumatic events/my suicidal ideations (as a ten-year-old!) distract me from our mission”

also, back to direct reactions to shinjiro’s death, and maybe this is more personal preference, but i really Cannot Relate at all to akihiko’s resolution in the face of it. i remember that disconnect was jarring to me when i first played it years ago too. because he’s sad, and then very quickly he’s not sad because “it’s what shinjiro would have wanted”. and i just can’t relate to how quick he came to terms with the death, because this was literally akihiko’s oldest friend. and when the other’s express sadness, he’s like, don’t be sad, it’s what shinjiro wanted. LIKE WTF it is still sad??? i just think a better balance between acceptance and grief could have been found, because i really feel like they jumped over the majority of the grief that i would expect from shinjiro’s oldest friend, which is very jarring. but. i mean, who knows, maybe that would be realistic to some. it feels like a shortcut to me tho. i like akihiko, but this particular instance really disconnected me from his character

i’ve heard that with the female protagonist in p3p, you can do a social link so shinjiro doesn’t end up dead. and i’m really curious how that plays out (/why the social link changes it). i just wanna be able to say “YOU’RE A HIGH SCHOOLER, YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE YOUR DEATH IS THE BEST WAY THINGS CAN PLAY OUT ( :( )”

anyway, some other thoughts while i’m here:

my vague recollection of p3 having some social links with ppl who weren’t really good people was correct. or maybe i should say, weren’t people i really found sympathetic. like, the devil link with the shady businessman (which i still haven’t completed), or the magician link with the classmate kenji (he has called me SO MANY TIMES, and i have turned him down every time, because if there’s going to links i don’t complete, i am fine with one of them being his. i just.....am not interested in his quest to fuck his teacher, i don’t enjoy it. i know i completed his in my last playthrough, but i can’t remember how it resolves but....god i could not care less about kenji). then there’s the hermit link with the teacher online (she’s so annoying lol, and i hate that she tells protag that she has a crush on the irl him, like, fuck off. also, she’s such a bad/unsympathetic teacher, it made me really miss kawakami, who had flaws but was ultimately a good teacher imo). oh, then there’s the emperor link with hidetoshi on the student council who....lol, that’s another link i completed last time but have barely touched this time, because i really dislike him. i kinda remember him softening towards the end of the link, but so much of the first part is just about enabling him being a tyrannical class council member which is not fun. and i ultimately like the tower/monk link, but he’s another character who....doesn’t really seem like that nice of a person. but i do like him because he likes the protag

the other links for the most part are good. it’s interesting the differences between p5 and p3 social links, because p5 had a definite theme to all of the links (/the whole game lol) where they were all ultimately good people who were misunderstood/unfairly judged/treated somehow (altho i haven’t done the iwai link all the way through, i imagine it ends up similarly because he’s a somewhat decent person “doing evil to combat evil” iirc). but there’s no real theme for the p3 links as far as i can tell. which makes sense, because in p5 there is a specific reason to have links with them all because they end up helping you, and they all end up as accomplices to all of the crimes the thieves commit lol

i really dislike that you have to romance all of your female classmates in order to complete their social links. what is friendship lol. really really really makes it feel a whole lot cheaper, and really makes it hard for me to care. very glad they stopped making that a requirement in p3p and beyond

what also make it hard for me to care?? the blank and unemotional p3 protagonist lol. i really have a hard time connecting to him, because he doesn’t really do much?? he’s just a blank wall for all of the social links, and it really disconnects me from the emotions of it. some girl will be confessing her feelings to him, and i’m just like, hm, fascinating, who cares, he’s gonna go on a date with another girl tomorrow. it doesn’t feel real to me at all. maybe i’m just totally unfairly biased toward p5 (and i don’t want to compare endlessly, bc p5 is newer and clearly they’ve made many improvements over the years, but it’s the easiest comparison at hand), but when someone talked to joker about how much he meant to them, i bought into it a lot more than i do with mr. low energy, the p3 protag. joker felt like an actual character to me, that i could care about, who i could understand/imagine his feelings and reactions to things. but for the p3 protag, it’s a lot of, well, i GUESS he COULD care about shinjiro dying, but you sure as heck have to read a whole lot into it to get to that conclusion, because the strongest reaction you can make him have to it is to have him tell the callous students at the assembly to “shut up.” which is nice, but hardly anything at all lol. i just find him difficult to project my emotions onto him in the game, unlike joker, who i didn’t have as much trouble believing in his genuine feeling for the people he talked to. i think also, people reacted to joker in a much more specific way that made him more real than the p3 protag, who kind of feels like a ghost most times, except for his social links where he shows up just to say exactly what the other person wants to hear lol. idk, i’m looking forward to replaying p5 and paying more attention to joker this time

(my feelings on the p3 protag are gonna be interesting come end-game, because if i understand correctly from the vague spoilers i’ve gotten about p3, the protag is gonna sacrifice himself to save the world. i keep trying to remind myself/play with that in mind, because i don’t think someone would sacrifice himself if he was actually as unemotional and detached as he sometimes comes across as)

80% of my rage at this game comes from being unable to control my specific party members in battle and so they do things that i don’t want them to, 10% comes from enemy advantage attacks (especially when i swing at them, but they hit me first), 9% comes from this game challenging me/punishing me for being underleveled when i’m playing on easy and don’t want any challenge at all because i want to get past the silly fighting business and back to social links/story, and a special 1% goes to the sleeping table boss in tartarus, which definitely was a primary punisher for me being underleveled and caused me to yell angrily at my screen yesterday

oh, ikutsuki. it’s funny, because p3 was the first persona game i played, and very early on, i was like, i don’t trust ikutsuki at all, so when the reveal came that you should not, in fact, trust ikutsuki, i wasn’t at all surprised. but it’s funny to replay it, knowing that persona likes the “this guy is not what he seems” trope, and realize that...there wasn’t really a specific giveaway instance where ikutsuki said something that was off (a la pancakes, or adachi showing up to a private conversation with interesting timing), it was just a sort of feeling i got about this weird adult who was having these high schoolers be responsible for saving the world, apparently. he really is a terrible terrible advisor though, lol, even knowing he’s evil. it’s sad to realize that the only adult help these kids have got is someone who is absolutely not on their side, and they’re truly on their own